The renovation of the Afsluitdijk will take at least three years longer than previously planned and will therefore be more expensive. This is stated in a letter to Parliament from the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen. Traffic delays therefore seem to continue for longer.
The reason for the delay is a design error in the new discharge sluices to be built and renovated, which are required for water drainage. The problem came to light last summer. Once again, the minister did not comment on the extra costs. She hopes to have more clarity about this next spring. Van Nieuwenhuizen did write that the project budget from the Delta Fund will be supplemented.
Various sources say to Cobouw magazine that the project will be hundreds of millions of euros more expensive. A spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat also did not comment on the extra costs involved in the renovation.
Initially, an amount of € 550 million was available for the renovation of the dyke. The work will be carried out by a consortium including builder BAM and dredger Van Oord.
According to the minister, a number of activities will be completed as planned. This involves, among other things, the reinforcement of the dike body, the construction of two pumping stations and two floodgates.